Blaze & Daze

Stiickygreen

Well-Known Member
I've been looking at the outdoor wood furnaces. I have a indoor one but it's getting up there in age.....nothing wrong yet. But I'm preparing for if the time comes. If I went outdoor I could heat the shop and greenhouse all from one furnace. Load it twice a day and much larger logs. Mine fits a 22"-24". Mostly run 18" for more air space though.
We looked at a wood boiler system that would heat the house and garage but decided to go with the BK catalytic stoves instead. These stoves only take 16-18" wood but they are thermostatically controlled and can burn up to 36 hours on a full load. (6-6" rounds) They will eat any wood/turn it into heat. This is what the "cat" looks like when it heats up and reburns the smoke.
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And this is what happens when you burn on 0F degree mornings. The emissions are so clean all you see is steam....and this hanging from the flue cap.
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Best/most efficient/most adjustable/longest burning stoves I've ever ran. Worth every penny.
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
We looked at a wood boiler system that would heat the house and garage but decided to go with the BK catalytic stoves instead. These stoves only take 16-18" wood but they are thermostatically controlled and can burn up to 36 hours on a full load. (6-6" rounds) They will eat any wood/turn it into heat. This is what the "cat" looks like when it heats up and reburns the smoke.
View attachment 5379778
And this is what happens when you burn on 0F degree mornings. The emissions are so clean all you see is steam....and this hanging from the flue cap.
View attachment 5379779

Best/most efficient/most adjustable/longest burning stoves I've ever ran. Worth every penny.
That's nice. How much wood did you go through before and after those stoves?

I like the idea of one stove to deal with....keeping the mess outside and less moving wood. That's why I'm moving in that direction. Plus the house is forced hot air and my existing ductwork can be fitted with a water to air heat exchanger.
 

Stiickygreen

Well-Known Member
That's nice. How much wood did you go through before and after those stoves?

I like the idea of one stove to deal with....keeping the mess outside and less moving wood. That's why I'm moving in that direction. Plus the house is forced hot air and my existing ductwork can be fitted with a water to air heat exchanger.
There was an old, tired, "Buck" stove here when we bought the place. It was a typical smoke dragon stove. Load it...it roars/controls are slim....4 hours later the house is cold. Burned tons of wood.

Gotta admit...I'm not real hard line on moisture content...like OCD stuff like some guys I've known. I get some creosote from that....and because we burn quite a bit of pine/cedar here. Very dirty/high creosote stuff. I run one of those weedwhacker looking gigs up it maybe 2 times a season (Oct to May continuous burning) and get maybe a couple of handfuls of creosote. I'm also just under the minimum on stove pipe length....and there's 1/3 less oxygen/air here than @ sea level. My house is small...800 sq ft. The stove runs on low all the time. I burn all season on 2 cords of wood most years.
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
There was an old, tired, "Buck" stove here when we bought the place. It was a typical smoke dragon stove. Load it...it roars/controls are slim....4 hours later the house is cold. Burned tons of wood.

Gotta admit...I'm not real hard line on moisture content...like OCD stuff like some guys I've known. I get some creosote from that....and because we burn quite a bit of pine/cedar here. Very dirty/high creosote stuff. I run one of those weedwhacker looking gigs up it maybe 2 times a season (Oct to May continuous burning) and get maybe a couple of handfuls of creosote. I'm also just under the minimum on stove pipe length....and there's 1/3 less oxygen/air here than @ sea level. My house is small...800 sq ft. The stove runs on low all the time. I burn all season on 2 cords of wood most years.
That's about the same as I'm burning now. More wood but also a little more sq ft too. It could be -20° out and 70°-80° in here. My shop is propane though. That's a whole other house basically.
 

Stiickygreen

Well-Known Member
Actually I'm roughly 4,500 sq ft total for both buildings. It's a good amount to heat.

The shop is bigger than the house. It's why I bought it lol
I can see your reasoning. My house had a wall mount propane heater when we bought it. Ripped it out on day #2. For us to do an outdoor boiler system/central heat system here/burn larger logs/etc we would have had to come up with external ducting/blahblahlblah and all I saw was problems and expense. I bought all 3 stoves/pipe/and had them installed for less than the boiler alone was gonna cost. Stil have to feed em all.

My garage is 900 sq ft./built in 2015 with 10-14' ceilings/R-19 walls/blown closed cell R-50 roof You aren't truly "rural" unless your barn/garage/shop is larger than your house. :D So 1700 sq ft here total...but lotsa cu ft.
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
I can see your reasoning. My house had a wall mount propane heater when we bought it. Ripped it out on day #2. For us to do an outdoor boiler system/central heat system here/burn larger logs/etc we would have had to come up with external ducting/blahblahlblah and all I saw was problems and expense. I bought all 3 stoves/pipe/and had them installed for less than the boiler alone was gonna cost. Stil have to feed em all.

My garage is 900 sq ft./built in 2015 with 10-14' ceilings/R-19 walls/blown closed cell R-50 roof You aren't truly "rural" unless your barn/garage/shop is larger than your house. :D So 1700 sq ft here total...but lotsa cu ft.
Yeah, I'm in ski country. So I understand what you deal with too.

I'm definitely sick of the propane. I can get as much wood as I need and would rather have propane/oil as backup. My wood furnace is oil backup. And like I said I want to have a solid plan if I need to replace.
 

Stiickygreen

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'm in ski country. So I understand what you deal with too.

I'm definitely sick of the propane. I can get as much wood as I need and would rather have propane/oil as backup. My wood furnace is oil backup. And like I said I want to have a solid plan if I need to replace.
We're in the "Banana Belt" here compared to the Vail area where we used to live. Same elevation (7100 ft) but 10 degrees warmer on average. Warm enough to have a garden...even if the season is short.

We're all electric here. It's either use the stove or use the 2 wall mount heaters and ceramic wall heater in the bedroom. Wood is "free"...LOL. I have a Stihl 391 and may buy a 261 in the near future. I own a splitter as well. You know the drill. Toys! LOL. It's hard work but I'm fortunate I can still plug away at it.
 

beebud

Well-Known Member
We're in the "Banana Belt" here compared to the Vail area where we used to live. Same elevation (7100 ft) but 10 degrees warmer on average. Warm enough to have a garden...even if the season is short.

We're all electric here. It's either use the stove or use the 2 wall mount heaters and ceramic wall heater in the bedroom. Wood is "free"...LOL. I have a Stihl 391 and may buy a 261 in the near future. I own a splitter as well. You know the drill. Toys! LOL. It's hard work but I'm fortunate I can still plug away at it.
You won't regret the 261. Use mine a lot. The ole buck stove here needs all the help it can
 

DeadHeadX

Well-Known Member
13f this morning, snow in the forecast. Spring in Vermont. Jarred the last cuts of Créme de la Chem last night for a couple weeks of curing, but had to take a taste. Yum. Thankful it’s Friday, despite the weather. I’d just assume have snow if it’s not going to be spring. Happy weekend, y’all.
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DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
Mornin
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15° at the moment. Tonight snow starts.......20"+ is what they say.....only about 1.5" an hour for 7-8 hours...so we'll see how that pans out. Two storms come together...one is over some of you guys and another coming up the coast....
:blsmoke:

How's everyone doing today?
 

Stiickygreen

Well-Known Member
You won't regret the 261. Use mine a lot. The ole buck stove here needs all the help it can
Mornin' folks. Up with the cup and feeling pretty good. Kinda rare. LOL. Sssshhhhhhhh. Don't awaken the beast...

Heehee...we got off on a good tangent there. Fun to see that others are playing lumberjack as well. The folks who just turn up the thermostat don't play that way or get the ins and outs of it all. My electric bill is high enough as it is...can't even imagine "paying" for heat though none of it is "free". I'm not a fan of fracking so the gas/propane wasn't ever a consideration here. Idiots.

Yeah...the 261 is a really nice saw. I love my 391 but she's a beast for all day cutting. Had an 029 for over 30 years. One Hell of a saw. I was sad when she finally crapped out. I also have an Oregon sharpener. I try to keep 10 chains on the ready and rotate in 5 new chains every year. I'm taking my 391 in for service/a tune up/etc. this week. Wish the Stihl's went on sale more but it is what it is. Good saws.

More sun here today. 60+ again. Barely got down to freezing last night. Day 62 in the tent. Will likely take those girls down this weekend when it's supposed to rain/snow. That's a great rainy day chore. A few of these plants have some really interesting smells so we will see how they play out once they are dried/etc.

Wonderin' if I should try drying some in the freeze dryer. Hmmmmm. It'd be a busy day but I should do a hash run @ the same time....
 
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